Claire Dederer on Hitchhiking in Australia

The memoirist recalls a hitchhiking trip before the days of "stranger danger"

By

Claire Dederer

Dec. 27, 2013 1:05 p.m. ET

WE DROPPED OUR backpacks and stepped to the edge of the road. The time had come, but somehow we just couldn't do it—we were overcome with embarrassment.

Sticking your thumb out: It was a gesture so classic it felt silly, like John Travolta's iconic finger-pointing dance from "Saturday Night Fever." But we had no choice. Without the thumbs, we were just a couple of morons standing by the side of the road. And so, as I...